How the Grinch Met Max
by Dale Z. Larmint
Summary: How did the Grinch meet max? A one-shot starring the Grinch in his younger days.


****Just something different I came up with. I do not own the Grinch, Dr. Suess does.

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><p><strong>How the Grinch Met Max<strong>

It was a dingy place, the mess of the Grinch, banana peels, skunk smells that made your nose pinch. If you would walk down the aisles, of the mile high piles , of the trash and the mess, you would find the green who, mumbling and in distress.

What was he mulling over?  
>It was the month of December, and the thoughts of the young childhood days stirred- he did not wish to remember.<p>

Not to mention his painful days of Christmas, the one holiday he hated most, he preferred Halloween to scare whos with a ghost. He grinned at the thought and slunk away back to his cave, where he would plan and scheme the next day's who-hate-wave.

"MAAAAAX!" he called out to his loyal companion mutt of a dog, who crawled out from an old eaten sofa, haven slept like a log. He scratched the back of his head, and licked his paws, sniffed around and stretched out his-

"THATS ENOUGH STRETCHING!"The Grinch roared, and poor Max flew back into trash ,he soared. With a matted furry hand, he grabbed Max by the collar and walked back to his parlor.

Max grunted but was pleased with the free ride, and the Grinch clenched his fists, "I'll show those Whos who's who!"He cried.  
>But in the midst of his ramping and raging, he heard a loud crunch under his feet - a picture frame with a photo that's aging.<p>

The Grinch dropped Max with a soft thump looking at the photo, of Max as a puppy in his mouth a potato.

Grinch grunted softly and looked down at Max, thinking of the time when he was alone with a good friend he lacked. He shut his eyes and thought back when he was young, when he ran away from home in the mountains where he run.

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><p>"Stupid Christmas, stupid santa, stupid presents." a young green furry Who, stamped his feet in the snow and then turned quickly on the hilltop, and then breathed in all the air that could hold in his lungs.<br>**"I HATE YOU ALL!" **

He slumped down to the snow, with angry tears streaming down his face. A fat Who, by the name of Augustus laughed at his appearance, but he was only jealous because his girlfriend Martha May Whovier liked him better. He couldn't complain, he WAS better looking. But it was too late now, all of whoville never liked him, and Christmas was forever spoiled for him.

He didn't want to admit it, but he was alone and didn't like it.

"I'm bored…"is what he managed to say to himself. He was still a boy, so he decided to explore the twisted snowy mountain; maybe he would find a cave to explore, with hidden treasures from pirates that he loved. Or a dragon! He liked reading about how the dragons would eat people and steal cows and sheep; it made him laugh and snort.

Grinch did find a cave, but it was dark, gloomy and cold. He lit a small fire and sat in the corner of the cave, glaring into the flames imagining he was a dragon destroying the Whos in Whoville. Suddenly, he heard a great roar in the cave and nearly fell in the flames.

He grabbed a piece of the lit firewood and held it out in front of him to see this roaring beast. "Who's there? Come on out! I'M NOT SCARED OF YOU!"

Instead of coming face to face with a dragon, a scruffy brown puppy crawled out from the shadows wagging his tail with a toothy grin.

"A puppy." Grinch flicked the piece of wood back into the fire and sat down again.

Seeing that the boy did not drive him out, the puppy reasoned that he was welcomed. The brown dog trotted next to the Grinch, slumped down next to him, and rested his head on his lap.

"OOOOOOOOooh no you don't." The Grinch picked up the dog by the scruff of his neck, and dropped him on the back of the cave.

When he sat down again, the puppy was by the fire wagging his tail in welcome.

"How did you-"The Grinch looked to the back of the cave and then to the dog. "GET OUT THIS IS MY FIRE!" The puppy rolled on his back, his tongue lolling out his mouth.

"FINE!" The Grinch stood up and clenched his fists. "If you won't leave, I will!"

The furry green Who walked out into the snowy blizzard warming his furry hands, shielding himself from the cold. He heard the sound of crunching snow behind him, and who else could it be but the puppy, walking next to him as if they were the best of friends.

The Grinch ignored him, and decided to climb up the mountain, perhaps he would lose the dog by then. When he climbed up a ledge, guess who was there to welcome him?

The brown puppy wagged his tail, as if to say "Hi there!" And the Grinch groaned again. "Don't you see I want to be alone? GO AWAY!"

A rumbling was heard in the mountain, and snow began to slide down. An avalanche caused by the boy's yell was coming down! Snow and ice fell on the boy, and the puppy barked in alarm. When the snow finally cleared, the Grinch was hanging onto branch jutting out from the mountain.

"Well this is just GREAT!" More snow fell on Grinch's face and he shook it off. He looked down seeing Whoville looking an awful like a doll house sized town, and he looked up, and saw the dumb dog wag its tail and bark at him.

"This is your entire fault you know!"The Grinch lifted himself up, but the branch cracked a little, making the puppy bark again. "STOP BARKING OR ELSE SNOW WILL FALL ON ME!"

More snow fell and the dog wagged its tail and bent down grabbing the Grinch's sleeve tugging him up. The Grinch leaned against the wall of the mountain with the panting puppy next to him. "I suppose you're going to follow me everywhere then?" The puppy barked.

"Ugh…fine." He took the broken branch from the mountainside, and began scratching his back, but he could not reach a certain spot. He felt a paw scratch his back and he looked at the dog.

"Hmm…well I guess that can be your purpose…" He patted the dog with the stick.

He looked to the cliff and then to the stick and then to the dog. He grinned mischievously, "Hey puppy, do you play fetch?"

The dog barked.

"Alright then, go get the stick!"And he threw over the cliff, with the dog jumping after it.

"Heh heh heh, what a dumb puppy." The Grinch soon found another cave and walked in, with a furry friend there to welcome him. "AAARGH! HOW DID YOU!"  
>The dog put the stick down, wagging its tail.<p>

"Well, I guess I'll make you my henchman. You will be called Max. Is that fine?"

The dog put its paw over its nose. "TOO BAD! That will be your name, now let's build our own home! It is by the Who Dump, a perfect place for treasure! Ahahaha!"

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><p>Yes, those were the days just the Grinch and Max, who now lived by the dump a good place to relax.<p>

The Grinch turned to look at his friend, "Hey Max do you want to play fetch? Come on fetch the stick, fetch the stick!" He threw the stick, and Max ran for it barking happily. "AHAHA! There is no stick there, I am smarter."  
>Of course, Max knew all along, but he wanted to be accepted his loyalty strong.<p> 


End file.
